Family Vacation: Part 2!

More photos from the pre-cation with Mom and Dad in Gonzales.

We arrived Friday in time for lunch, and Dad drove us to the airport Monday morning. That's right - a Sunday with my parents! We don't get many Sundays together, and it was a joy to sit in the pew next to Bek and the Bear - and also to watch as Dad led us in worship. Worship has always been a special marker of vacation time for me. I remember the German Katholische Kirche we visited one Sunday in Munich, and struggling to thank the priest in his language for the gift of that service. We understood so little, and so were relieved of the burden of understanding. The liturgy held us; the prayers of others sustained us; the Holy Spirit embraced us. I remember another vacation - last year, in Charleston, SC - and the kindly lay reader who sought us out in the garden and invited us to Noonday prayer, where the prayers were for the weary and traveling. No hopes for added numbers. Just compassion on those they welcomed. Back to this vacation - up to this point with my parents - Rebekah and I would be unspeakably blessed later on in the week by the Noonday Eucharist celebrated at Holy Family, Chapel Hill, and our time with Mother Michelle. Similarly, this Sunday, with my dad and my mom and the people of the Messiah Episcopal Church in Gonzales, Texas, was a holy consolation. The Communion of Saints is a living thing when we travel, and I am so grateful for the saints who set the table and the living God who meets us there.

Annie, at a table of her own.

Grampy-bear time.

What's that??

Never mind.

family vacation: part I

As of two hours ago, Bek, Annie, and I are freshly returned from our family vacation. We left July 30-ish, and today is August 17th, easily making this trip our longest rest time together. And while traveling with an almost one-year old makes even rest time fair game for adventure, it was a blessed adventure, and one for which we're grateful. We shared time with my parents, caught up with dear friends in Durham and Winston-Salem, visited the church at which Beks was confirmed and where we were married, and spent the better part of a week with Rebekah's family at Sunset Beach, NC. There just aren't words enough for the balm these friendships are to us and our delight in sharing extended time with family - by birth and by baptism.

Additionally, I'm thankful that Bek spearheaded a house-cleaning charge before we left, so that we came back to what seems to be someone else's house. That said, we have the usual laundry piles to rescue from their moldering bags before tomorrow and daily routines to set up again, so I'm pacing our posting of pics from the trip. Ideally, a new post a day. This one has us at the trip's beginning, with Mom and Dad. Specifically, the occasion is Annie's receiving a new doll (named 'Maise Baby') that Mom had made for Annie. Annie has never had a doll; immediately, she scooped Maise up, gave her a great big hug, and began patting Maise ("may-zee") on the back as they nuzzled together. Maise was a hit, and the adventure was in full swing. :)

familia

on a mission :)

odds and ends

More Adventures with Anders and Kate

Adventures with Anders and Kate

Just dropped dear friends Anders and Kate at the airport - with only half-joking prayers that they might miss their flight. It was joy beyond words to share the past ten days with them. Here are a few photo-highlights from our time together.